Want/Need Lists By Set

Friday, February 1, 2013

Directional Plans For Topps 2013

I don’t talk much about my job, and won’t so don’t worry, but I will
tell you that I live and breathe smack-dab in the middle of heavy duty corporate culture.We love our meetings, our executive summaries
and our detailed action plans.It’s kind of fun sometimes- sort of a magical
world where the little graphs, spreadsheets and presentations we create turn
into millions and millions of dollars worth of products.I’d like to think I’m not one of the cookie
cutter corporate drones that I deal with regularly, but I can sling corporate
hash when I need to.For example, I’ve become
very adept at knowing when to use the term “directionally.” Allow me to illustrate.

When someone asks me if the numbers I put together for a presentation are accurate, I say, “Directionally, they are good.”That means “no, they are not correct, but just accept them because I’m
not doing it again”.Of course, when the
shoe is on the other foot and someone tells me that what they’ve given me is
“directionally” correct, I get a little annoyed because I know they don’t know
what they are talking about, but they’ve said it was “directionally” correct,
therefore I’m stuck with it.

That said, now that I’ve had a few days to digest Topps 2013, I thought
I would give you my “directional” plans for collecting the set.

I’m pretty impressed with the base set, and the pretty parallel
versions available for each card.By my
count, there are 9 versions of each:

1)Standard base

2)Blue Walmart

3)Red Target

4)Emerald (my favorite)

5)Gold #d to 2013

6)Pink #d to 50

7)Camouflage #d to 99

8)Black #d to 50

9)Slate wrapper redemption

I know there are more (like the silk versions), but I just need 9 for my purposes.What I plan to do is collect all 9 above versions
of all 331 base cards, and give each card its own 9 pocket page in a huge 2013
Topps Album.I’ve estimated the cost of
this project to be around $20,000 which isn’t exact, but directionally close.

How will I fund this project?Simple.I should be able to sell 20,000
of my 90s junk wax cards for $1 each, directionally, which will cover my costs
directionally.

How long will this take?By my
estimations, directionally I should be able to complete 5 pages a day, directionally, which
would equate to me needing only a little over 2 months to finish this project,
directionally, just in time to start preparing for the release of series
2.

See, even for seemingly impossible projects like this one, when you
break it down and have a plan, anything is possible!I
can’t wait to get started!!!

I hate "directionally correct." It basically means "Well, we said we were going to improve performance, but we really didn't. But, by luck, right before we walked in this meeting, we experienced a random statistical variation that allows us to imply improvement and, thus, salvage our dignity. And perhaps our annual bonus. BOO-YAAA! MAJOR SUCCESS!"